016. Choo choo!

This is (kinda) what a train ride to New York looks like.
(This trip happened a month ago.)

015. Oh, hey, Obama.

It's the economy, stupid.
@ Georgetown University, today. Tuesday April 14 is day 85 of the administration. Day before Tax Day.

&Remember what your mama told ya, give credit where credit's due.
If you use 'em, give credit to Megan R. Wilson, Scripps Howard Foundation Wire.

Pooled press were the only ones to get up front, so all I got were side podium shots. And everybody knows that those are LAME.
Oh, well. Randy did me good despite my locational shortcomings.

Edit, 4/15/09:
Here's my story. Here's the transcript of the speech, as prepared for delivery.

014. Tax man makes IRS look cute, fluffy

These are pictures I took of "Doug the Tax Man", a.k.a. Douglas Shulman, the Internal Revenue Service Commissioner, today at the National Press Club.

Read Caitlyn's article about it.

013. More Timmy

Taken the same day as the others.

Politicos talk with their hands. A lot.

That's a Wall Street Journal article called, "Bank Nationalization isn't the Answer."

012. Welcome to Washington, where the players play

... and we ride on them thangs, like every day.


These are some old pics I took at the Capital. Second day in Washington.

011. Science rules!

Sorry, I've been dying of some plague.

About here, he's talking to the other witness about Pluto not being a planet. Apparently, if you could put Pluto where the moon is, it would dissappear. Just in case anyone was wondering, Bill Nye is legit. Even when he's not doing business, he's still talkin' science.

When I took a picture with him, he insised that I stand on his right. "Dance positions," he said. "The woman always goes on the right."

Bill Nye testifies to the House Appropriations Committee about the importance of science education.

Some noteable quotables:

• After being asked by a congressman about what he could do at home with his children (ages 5, 9) to get them interested in science, Nye responded to let them make a mess in the kitchen, but make them clean it up. A specific suggestion: have them play with food coloring, and see if they can squirt it in the shape of a squid, "which is what squids do everyday with their ink. It's really difficult. Actually, I'm not really sure, I haven't interviewed many squid. I talk to them a lot, but I've never gotten a response."
  

• He keeps two Emmys on his mantleplace, and the other five in a box.
• "The man" is the reason Blackberries don't get service in the committee meeting room.
• He wears a bow-tie (which he ties himself, no clip ons) because "it doesn't get caught in your shirt of flop in your flask." He may have been speaking about scientific beakers and junk, but Em and I took this to mean alcohol flask. And I prefer to think of it that way.
  

Not only is he pretty brilliant, he's articulate and hilarious. And he can still explain scientific concepts to dummies. All hail Nye.

010. Tim Geithner is a celebrity

Seriously. He's all over the place. These were taken Wednesday, March 4.

Sen. Grassley, R-Iowa, loves charts.
This picture isn't really any good, but I love knowing that's not an intern holding up that sign. That's one of his tax advisors. (I know this because I called and asked.)

Beautiful. Gorgeous. Wish you were here.

009. Grab bag

Another interning pal. She's taking care of business.
I was taking photos of her subject.

There were people on the Hill protesting against coal and for "green" jobs and all kinds of enviro stuff. And then they threw their signs on the ground. Irony is even more beautiful in 12 degree weather.

Artificial light v. Natural light

This is what "moving out of the dorms day" looks like in Congress.

008. Light and fluffy goodness.

Alright, I'm bad at this "picture-a-day" thing when I spend most of my weekend on the couch. So, you're going to get a bunch of pictures from this morning's (and last night's) snow.

007. Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

You know it's bad when the residents go, "ooh."

006. Wake up from a lazy weekend. It's snowing!

The long walk to work.

005. Justice John Paul Stevens

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens @ the Newseum Wednesday

004. Portrait No. 1

An intern pal from Texas.

003. Almost Famous

Emily, the roommate and second half to my brilliant reporting tagteam crew.
(With me being the other half, obviously.)

The gorgeous Gretchen Mol

Cameron Bright, the brilliant kid from "Thank You for Smoking."

Emily wrote a baller story about this movie premiere, which saves me from having to explain it all. (Don't forget to get a username & password to read our stuff, it's quick and totally free.) The after party was way better, and held at a bar called Tattoo. Free drinks all night. I made the decision to be off the clock (for personal, rather than professional reasons), so there are no pictures from the bar.

002. Fight Club

So, Ticketmaster and Live Nation would like to merge. Some members of Congress (such as the entire Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, etc. issues) as well as smaller concert promoters, venue owners and ticket vendors have a problem with that.

This scene sat on the committee's clerk desk. A "United States Senate" document folder and the book "Fight Club." Brilliant.

In focus: Live Nation President and CEO Michael Rapino prepares.

(closest to furthest)

• Live Nation president and CEO Michael Rapino,
• Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff,
• JAM Productions chairman Jerry Mickelson,
• Seth Hurwitz, owner of 9:30 club in DC and co-owner of Washington, D.C., independent promoter I.M.P. Productions,
• Center of American Progress’ fellow David A. Balto

Story to come tomorrow.

001. Stairway to heaven, or hell -- depending on the direction.

This is the first of two escalators at the Woodley Park metro stop. It's impossibly long.

We take the elevator. Always.

Let's get up to speed, shall we?

• I (finally) found the pool. I'm in love.
  
  
• I found the mall. I'm in debt.
  
  
• I barely found an elusive shirt from Hollister with the California flag on it; it only took calling four different states to find it in a small. I could probably use an extra small, it's made janky. Hey, you guys, I know we're cool, but get off my goddamn state. It's mine. Mine, mine, mine.
  
  
• I love my roommates more than life itself. They're just cool. The rest of the interns are bomb as well. How'd I get so lucky?
  
  
• Can anyone tell me the way to write a compelling cover letter? "Trust me, I'm amazing" isn't the way to win 'em over, evidently.
  
  
• My bangs are returning to normal. This is exciting news, everybody.
  
  
• The Newseum is a fun place. They serve wine in the cafeteria.
  
  
• I'm a natural anchorwoman, especially when I've got my other half sitting as my co-anchor.

Because meaningful words allude me as of late, I'm going to begin posting (at least) a picture per day. Starting tomorrow.

I had a very good Valentine's Day.

And here's proof.
http://picasaweb.google.com/megwilso/ValentineSDay02

The Charlie Gibson Night.

Scripps Howard News Service / Scripps Howard Foundation Wire has been way too good to me/us. Case and point: The National Press Foundation's annual fundraising awards dinner held at the Washington Hilton in Dupont Circle. What? What's that you say? Free drinks, free three-course meal and more free drinks and dancing. We were usually the only ones dancing such the life of the party, the band begged us not to leave. AND we were able to meet Charlie Gibson.

FYI: Networking is much easier after everyone has parkaken in the open bar.

The Brian Williams Day.

Asked about his plans for the following day, a wise man once said, "I don't make plans that far ahead."

On Monday, I made plans to go see Dolly Parton at the Press Club downtown the next morning (she was speaking about her literacy program.), but I decided that even though it might be fun to watch, there was no way I could imagine myself actually bringing myself to write a story about her. So I decided to go see Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (but he lets me call him Tim) and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

(Here's the article I wrote about it. My first financial piece, eeik.)

But let's backtrack. Cut to 9:30 a.m. I make reservations with the United States Treasury, because the Secret Service does background checks before you're able to attend events within the building. There were two separate, high-profile press conferences going on inside and the economics nerd in me pined to go.

The first one was at 11, with my pal Tim.

Well, Secret Service at the gate had other plans. After what seemed like hours, repeatedly checking with the guard, my name still hadn't showed up on the list. A pool of journalists stood outside the Treasury building on an unusually warm winter day in Washington, also denied access. Although I never did get into the building (the person who was supposed to send my information never did), what I witnessed outside became even more entertaining:

An unnamed big-deal Washington Post A-section staff writer began huffing, puffing and throwing a big 'ol tantrum when he couldn't get into the building. Blackberry in hand, desperately throwing out names and guarantees of confirmation and expletives under his breath, didn't get in for at least another half an hour.

I know you've paid your dues, dude, but welcome to being an intern.

A little while after that incident, suddenly, the heavens parted. A man in a fine suit walked down the visitors entrance steps. He never took off his sunglasses; just simply walked up to the security booth. Having my camera, Randy, slung over my shoulder, it took everything inside of me not to (creepily) snap a photo or run up to him with my reporter's notebook and beg for an autograph. Instead, I looked wide-eyed at the poor, pity-party of press standing next to me and lipped, "oh. my. god." The 30- or 40-something journalists weren't nearly as excited as I was (maybe it's 'cause they're guys).

"Brian Williams," the tall man said, handing the guard his ID.
"Brian Williams is here," the Secret Service guard said over the phone to whomever at some computer, somewhere. "You're good," he said, handing back his ID.
Williams either just smiled or said something jokingly, like, "that easy?"
"Yeah, I think I've seen you on TV a couple times," the most-laid-back-Secret-Service-agent-I've-ever-met replied.

I later told my mom that, "his skin is so creamy!" It is. His hair's perfect too. Maybe that's because he has an eight-figure salary.

I've always sort of flown by the seat of my pants, and this is an affirmation that not making plans can work out just fine. Or even better.